Get Started with Java

Sign up for a Plivo Account

Whenever a customer signs up with Plivo, they are provided with a free trial account to experiment with our services. This free trial account is given free credits for testing and using the same credits you can go ahead and purchase a number by navigating here. Once you have a number and credits in your account, you are all set to start testing our voice and SMS service.

Register here to get your free Plivo account today.

Below are the steps that are to be followed to successfully Sign up for a free trial account.

1. Sign up with your corporate email address

2. You will receive an activation email from Plivo. Click on the link mentioned in the email to activate your account.

3. Enter an sms enabled, non-VOIP number to complete the phone verification.

Sign up with your corporate email address

If you are facing any issues while creating a Plivo account, you can reach out to our Support Team

Install Java and the Plivo Java Server SDK

To get started with Sending your First SMS, you have to set up java and install Plivo java SDK.

Install Java

Install Plivo Java Package

Supported Java versions: This SDK works with Java 1.8 & 1.9 i.e., JDK 8 and JDK 9. While using the SDK with Java 1.9, you may have to use the --add-modules java.se.ee flag to include modules that are no longer present by default.

To Install Stable release

You can use this SDK by adding it as a dependency in your dependency management tool. Alternatively, you can use the JAR file.

If you are using Maven, use the following XML to include the Plivo SDK as a dependency.

<dependency>
  <groupId>com.plivo</groupId>
  <artifactId>plivo-java</artifactId>
  <version>4.4.0</version>
</dependency>

If you are using Gradle, use the following line in your dependencies.

compile 'com.plivo:plivo-java:4.4.0'

To Install Beta release

You can use this SDK by adding it as a dependency in your dependency management tool. Alternatively, you can use the JAR file.

If you are using Maven, use the following XML to include the Plivo SDK as a dependency.

<dependency>
  <groupId>com.plivo</groupId>
  <artifactId>plivo-java</artifactId>
  <version>4.3.0-beta-2</version>
</dependency>

If you are using Gradle, use the following line in your dependencies.

compile 'com.plivo:plivo-java:4.3.0-beta-2'

Send your first Outbound SMS

We’ll see how to use Plivo APIs to send SMS messages from your web application. Let’s have a look at some prerequisites before we dive into the code.

• Plivo Auth Id and Auth Token: You will find your Plivo Auth Id and Auth Token on the home screen of your Plivo Console. Click here to sign-up for a Plivo account if you haven’t already!

• Plivo Phone Number: You must have a SMS-enabled Plivo phone number to send messages to the US and Canada. You can purchase numbers from the Numbers section of your Plivo Console. It is also possible to purchase numbers using the Numbers API.

Create a file called SendSMS.java and paste the below code.

Code

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class Example {
  public static void main(String [] args) {
    Plivo.init();
    Message.creator("plivo_src_number", Collections.singletonList("the_destination_number"), "Hello, world!")
                    .create();
  }
}

save the file and use the below command to run it.

java SendSMS.java

Set up Sinatra for Incoming Messages & Callbacks

In this section, you will learn how to set up Sinatra in under 5 minutes and start handling Incoming Messages & Callbacks.

Set up Sinatra

Use the following code snippet to start a local server.

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require 'sinatra'
require 'plivo'

include Plivo
include Plivo::XML

get '/speak/' do
  response = Response.new
  speak_body = 'Testing Sinatra application'
  response.addSpeak(speak_body)

  xml = PlivoXML.new(response)
  xml.to_xml
end

This code returns the following XML

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<Response>
    <Speak>Testing Sinatra application</Speak>
</Response>

Save this code in any file (let’s say the file name is plivo-server.java). To run this file on the server, go to the folder where this file resides and use the following command:

  java plivo-server.java

And you should see your basic server app in action on http://localhost:4567/speak/

Exposing your local server to the internet

To receive Incoming Messages and to handle callbacks, your local server should be able to connect with Plivo API service, Ngrok is a tunneling software used to expose a web server running on your local machine to the internet. Using Ngrok you can set webhooks which can talk to Plivo server.

You can download and install ngrok from here. Follow the detailed configuration instructions to get started.

Run ngrok on the port which currently hosts your application. For example, if your port number is 80, run the following command:

./ngrok http <port_on_which_your_local_server_is_running>

This will give you a UI with links that look like ngrok.io/* which you can use to access your local server using the public network.

You can check the XML in your browser by accessing the public URL with /speak/ appended.

Receive an inbound SMS

Plivo supports receiving SMS text messages in 9 countries (see complete SMS API coverage). When an SMS is sent to a Plivo phone number, you can receive the text on your server by setting a Message URL in your Plivo app. Plivo will send the message along with other parameters to your Message URL.

Create a file called receive_sms.java and paste the below code.

Code

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require "sinatra"

get "/receive_sms/" do
  from_number = params[:From]
  to_number = params[:To]
  text = params[:Text]
  puts "Message received - From: #{from_number}, To: #{to_number}, Text: #{text}"
end

Create an Application

1. Create an Application by visiting the Application Page and click on New Application or by using Plivo’s Application API.
2. Give your application a name. Let’s call it Receive SMS. Enter your server URL (e.g. http://example.com/receive_sms/) in the Message URL field and set the method as POST. See our Application API docs to learn how to modify your application through our APIs.
3. Click on Create to save your application.

Assign a Plivo number to your app

1. Navigate to the Numbers page and select the phone number you want to use for this app.
2. Select Receive SMS (name of the app) from the Plivo App dropdown list.
3. Click on Update to save.

Test it out

Send an SMS to your Plivo number using a regular mobile phone. Plivo will send a request to your Message URL with the parameters listed in the XML Request - Messages Documentation.

Reply to an incoming SMS

When an SMS is sent to an Plivo phone number, you can receive the text on your server by setting a Message URL in your Plivo app. Plivo will send the message along with other parameters to your Message URL. You can reply back using the Plivo Message XML.

Create a file called reply_to_sms.java and paste the below code.

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require "plivo"
require "sinatra"

include Plivo
include Plivo::XML

get "/reply_to_sms/" do
  from_number = params[:From]
  to_number = params[:To]
  text = params[:Text]
  puts "Message received - From: #{from_number}, To: #{to_number}, Text: #{text}"

  # send the details to generate an XML
  response = Response.new
  params = {
    src: to_number,
    dst: from_number,
  }
  message_body = "Thank you, we have received your request"
  response.addMessage(message_body, params)
  xml = PlivoXML.new(response)

  content_type "application/xml"
  return xml.to_s()
end

Test it out

Send an SMS to your Plivo number using a regular mobile phone and an automatic response will be sent from your Plivo number to your mobile phone. Also, Plivo will send a request to your Message URL with the parameters listed in the XML Request - Messages Documentation.